School Nurse Melinda Landis was presented with the Highmark Foundation Excellence in School Nursing Award at the annual awards ceremony.

The award is presented to school nurses to reward them for their work and contributions to their school, as well as to help minorly fund supplies within their health office.

Landis sheds some light on her reaction to the award and her profession in the following interview with junior Chris Stem.

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Stem: What award did you win, and what does the award entail?

Landis : “Monetarily it came with a $1500 prize to be used for supplies here in the health office.”

Stem: Why do you believe you were chosen to receive award?

Landis: “I believe the school is trying to recognize all of the nurses in the district and the contributions that they made, and since I have the most seniority of all of the nurses, I think they chose to give the award to me.”

Stem: What does winning this award mean to you; how do you feel about receiving it?

Landis: “I think it’s a great honor; its nice to be recognized. As nurses, we don’t get a lot of the recognition that happens in the school, so it’s nice to be recognized for the contributions that we make.”

Stem: What is your typical day as a nurse here at Susquehannock?

Landis: “Generally I see students for illnesses and injuries, lots of meds that students need to take during the day, some paperwork, and I help out in the office where I can, but mostly it’s just taking care of the kids that come in during the day with complaints.”  

Stem: What is your goal/purpose as a nurse at SHS?

Landis: “To take care of kids to try to keep them as healthy as possible, and teach them ways to stay healthy as they become adults.”

 Stem: What was a significant moment in your career as a school nurse?

Landis “One that comes to minds is the first week that the turf fields were put in outside, I had one student fracture her femur, which is a really difficult bone to break, on the field hockey field.”